The last agreement needed to complete the merger between broadband providers Orange and T-Mobile has been finalised, it has been announced.

France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, the respective providers' parent companies, have confirmed that a binding deal which confirms the terms of the transaction has been signed.

Completion of the agreement is set to take place in the first half of next year, as previously suggested.

Timotheus Hottges, the Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Telekom, said negotiations over the merger were conducted in "a fair way" by both parties.

He added: "It will set new standards as the number one in the UK mobile market."

The news comes after T-Mobile recently confirmed that sales of its mobile broadband dongles were up 71 per cent year-on-year during the third quarter of this year.

In addition, the broadband and mobile phone company's total customer base reached 16.6 million over the period analysed.